A Rider's Return
by Avmo
Summary: Fifty years after the end of Inheritence, danger is again lurking in Alegasia. It's up to Eragon and the other Rider's to stop this deadly force.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A new Rider

_It had been fifty years since Eragon left Alegasia to search for a place to raise the future dragons and their riders. Almost all of the eggs had hatched, except for a select few that were still being carted around between the races. They were proving to be harder to hatch than anyone had anticipated, the only knowledge that kept them from worrying is that the perfect riders had still yet to be found which only meant that their ranks would improve with these fine new riders once again. Eragon had not directly spoken with Arya since their emotional departure all of those years ago. She had sent news of the dragons and their new riders but the news was usually relayed to Blodhgarm or one of the other elves. As the years began to pass between them, Eragon began to realize that they were not going to be together in the end after all. He started to completely pour himself into his new riders. The elves compared him to Oromis without a second thought, he was extremely dedicated to his pupils. His various methods educated them in a sense that no other rider had been able to before. The Eldunari, for the most part healed and coherent, taught the history that had long since been forgotten. Even Eragon was able to learn from them and their wisdom beyond comprehension. All was well within the new academy, which had appropriately been named Yawe Ladrin, meaning "open a bond of trust" in the Ancient Language. It was thriving in peace, just how Eragon had always imagined._

Eragon peered into the sky, reaching his thoughts out to Saphira. He sensed her flying through savannah with a few of the other dragons, teaching them proper ways to control their flight. He smiled at the thought of her and how she'd grown both physically and mentally. She had spent at least a decade of their time studying many of the scrolls that Nasuada had sent over from Galbatorix's vast collection. She had also spent the time studying and questioning many of the Eldunari. Eragon felt a surge of pride as he thought of Saphira.

Knowing she was safe, he continued on his walk to the main hall. They were expecting a new rider today, finally able to make the journey after learning under Arya for the past few months. The whole camp was bustling with excitement, it'd been a few years since a new dragon and Rider had joined their ranks.

As he stood in the middle of the the massive hall, he couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of it all. It had taken awhile to complete but with the help of the Eldunari and the elves, it had become something no less than breath taking. They had used the dragons themselves as inspiration, making the halls grand and majestic but with a glittery touch that represented the dragon's scales. Eragon was so lost in his admiration of the hall that he almost missed the approaching man, Danle, a promising Rider that arrived as one of the first new Rider's. His dragon, Camber, was a massive sterling white colour that reminded him of seeing a pearl of the deep. Eragon was glad he'd have Danle there when they welcomed the new Rider. He was very skilled and would be able to help him with the newest one to join their ranks. Eragon smiled at his friend as they said their usual greetings that would make no sense to others. Danle took his place at Eragon's side as they waited.

Finally, after much time had passed, he caught a glimpse of a flicker of colour in the sky. He would have missed it if he had been blinking or not paying attention, meaning that they were still quite aways away. As the object got closer, he noticed that the object seemed to split in two, forming two seperate dragons off in the distant. He couldn't make out details yet but he could tell that one was much larger than the other. After a few minutes he was able to make out the colours of the dragons. The smaller one was a rustic orange colour that reminded him of a sunset over the ocean. The larger one was a dark, emerald green colour. His gut wrenched has he began to discover that the larger dragon was Firnen, Arya's dragon. At that point he heard Saphira land with a loud thud next to him, too fixated on the incoming dragons to actually notice her land. He reached out to Saphira's mind, hoping she would have made sense of it all but her's was just as confused as his own.

Several long minutes passed before Arya and Firnen landed with the new dragon and it's Rider. they soared over them, landing in a grassy area to the left of the hall. Eragon and Danle hopped onto Saphira's wide back, not wanting to waste any more time. Upon reaching them, Eragon's eyes welled with tears for there before him stood Arya, smiling at him with that smile he felt was intended soley for him. She had not appeared to have aged one bit. He hadn't experienced much of aging over the half of a century they were apart but he knew his were dramatic compared to Arya's. He had not even glanced at the new Rider, as his eyes were fixated upon Arya, studying her every feature.

"Greetings Eragon, at last we meet again." She said this with a warm smile he had missed so much. "I'd like you to meet our newest rider, Holda daughter of Nasuada and her dragon, Kason, son of Saphira." Eragon was filled with confusion and joy for he was quickly overwhelmed with questions. Instead of appearing rude he greeted the young girl, who only appeared to be in her early teens, with a warm welcome. After greeting her, he greeting the young dragon with a sense of pride. He heard Saphira humming off to his side, hearing her thoughts of joy radiating from her thoughts. They had always thought that Saphira's egg wouldn't hatch to anyone. It had been fourty five years since she'd finally agreed to letting it be ushered around in the attempt of finding a rider. The thought made her proud that her son had chosen such a noble Rider as his bonded match.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Settling in

Eragon usherered the two through the hall, explaining a few of the rules and regulations to the young girl before leading her to a massive grassy area with cliffs so high on either side, the clouds touched them in certain parts. Embedded within the cliffs were large caves, some so wide that there didn't seem to be a way that they were of natural formation. They housed each of the dragon/Rider pair quite comfortably with plenty of room for the wild dragons, although most preferred to find their own housing. Eragon jumped onto Saphira's back, motioning for Holda, Arya, and Danle to do the same. They flew a short while, climbing high into the sky until he landed at a rather large cave filled with basic sleeping quarters for each of them and a fire pit in the other. Each of the caves looked like this for the new riders, it was up to them to customize them as they sought fit. Of course, the four dragons were unable to fit in their together so Arya and Danle hovered outside while Eragon showed Holda and Kason around.

"I shall expect to see you down in the hall where you first came in within an hour so we can appropriately review everything. Please take this time to settle in or explore the lands around here." Eragon said to the girl who he couldn't quite decifer her emotions, which frustrated him endlessly.

With that, Eragon climbed up Saphira's side to be on his way, eager to catch up with Arya.

Arya and Eragon soared through the entity of Yawe Ladrin while Danle headed back to the hall. Eragon showed her all that they had accomplished. Beyond the cliffs was a massive valley mainly used for battle training amongst each other but could also be a very relaxing place to think and connect with one's dragon. Eragon exclaimed that it once contained a few trees but some of the younger dragons had accidentally burnt it down when testing out their breath of flame. To the left was a large body of water where a few of the younger dragons were splashing and spraying each other with a sense of glee.

Eragon peered into Saphira's thoughts, ignoring the sense of privacy he knew she craved as she caught up with Firnen. They were busy catching up on all that they had lost throughout the past fifty years. He quickly removed himself to give them that privacy they surely needed. He also wanted to be able to talk with Arya. He looked over at her, her dark hair was flowing in the wind. She looked...free. Saphira and Firnen landed in the empty meadow where her and Firnen went to go explore the vast forest at the end of the meadow.

"What made you come?" Eragon spoke gently, trying to hide his overwhelming emotions.

Arya looked displeased, which worried Eragon. She looked as if she was about to speak but before she could Eragon heard both out loud and in his thoughts Saphira's massive roar. The only words he could make out were _Shade Rider_ from Saphira's consciousness. Eragon felt as though he was going to be sick, as he looked to Arya with a fear he'd never expressed before. Solumnly, Arya transferred her memories to Eragon. There he saw it, an egg somehow had been able to fall into the hands of the small rebellion that had been forming since he had overthrown Galbatorix. The egg had hatched for one of their most powerful magicians who had summoned spirits to strengthen him. The spirit he channeled was none other than Morzan, Galbatorix's right hand Rider during the Foresworn. They were wreacking destruction throughout the entire land of Alegasia, without a care in the world. Within an instant, Saphira was at his side and they began calling out to all of the Rider's and dragons in all of Yawe Ladrin.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

It took about an hour for all of them to arrange themselves in the large valley. There were twenty dragons and Riders, along with a handful of wild dragons that had been in the area. The dragon's ranged from almost as large as Saphira, all the way down to something slightly larger than a hatchling. Eragon relayed the news to all of them with a speech overstricken with grief. He wasn't sure how to even handle this since a Shade Rider had never existed before, especially when they contained spirits of the Foresworn.

"Tomorrow morning, we must finally go back to Alegasia. Our training must be put to use. We have had many years to perfect our skills and now, it is time to use them. We must set out on a voyage, to meet our destiny at last." Eragon heard roars of excitement, frustrated that they weren't taking this seriously, "A Shade Rider is on the loose, something no one in the history of our kind has had to deal with before. We are strong and we have numbers but we must not become full of ourself for these are dangerous times." He reached his mind out to the wild dragons that were lurking off to the side "You have no attachments to do so but it would be of most honour to have you join our ranks as we set forth on destroying this abomination upon our home land." with a sigh of relief, most of the dragons conveyed the images and thoughts that they would stand behind him, already reaching out to other dragons who had not joined them for the meeting. "We will need to continue protection here, as well as keep our younger Rider's safe." Eragon glanced over at Holda and Kason. He reached out to the minds of a few of the more experienced riders, asking them to stay once eveyone else disperced. "That is all, please prepare for yourself as we leave at dawn."

The next morning, you could tell that everyone had mixed emotions concerning their journey. It was decided that all there would be eight Rider's left behind. Three of them were students that had arrived recently enough to not have been trained as much as Eragon would have liked. The other five Rider's were very experienced in the art of combat, magic, and overall training. Eragon felt confident that if something were to happen to the rest of them, they would have the means to restore the Rider's once again.

Everyone else saddled up. Eragon packed up several of the Eldunari, using the same spell to conceal them as he had all of those years ago to bring them all here. On Eragon's signal, all the dragons seemed to open their sheer, leathery wings at once, causing a thunderous roar over the sparse valley. There were fifteen Rider/dragon combinations as well as twenty or so wild dragons. It dawned on Eragon that this would be the first time that Alegasia had seen this many in one place before. Whenever there was an issue before that Arya couldn't handle on her own, he would send one or two to help aid her. Now, the sky glittered with dragons of all colors and sizes. Saphira held the front with a pride that made Eragon smile. He could tell she was ready to finally return to the land of her forefathers. The glittering sun was shining in their eyes as they flew off towards Alegasia, a strange feeling overwhelmed Eragon. It was something he hadn't experienced in so long. He quickly realized what it was, it was home sickness.


End file.
